As a leader at any level or in any situation…have you ever been asked…or asked yourself…does your plan for future action include: Allowing For Failure? Do you think and believe those that work with you would feel “safe” telling you that they messed-up on a project assignment? Would you react with a progressive, quality leadership perspective? Have you found one special chapter in any leadership instruction manual that describes how to best handle and make appropriate personnel reactions when Allowing For Failure in the workplace?

Well…as I researched the issue of Allowing For Failure as a high value leadership trait, I first found an article that reported Allowing For Failure was one of the TOP 10 EMPLOYEE EXPECTATIONS of those entering a new job position. Additionally I found several articles that seemed to suggest that having even “small” corrective plans-of-action for the potential failure of new project activities was not just a recommendation…but almost a modern day requirement!

As you can imagine, my style, history and experiences made writing this Allowing For Failure TRIPLE III TIME message a strong challenge…but change is necessary and natural…right? So here is an important short quotation taken from the Ulliance group that puts this issue in perfect perspective:

“Every mistake has the power to teach you something important, so look for the lesson in every situation. People develop new understandings of themselves, the world they live in, how to relate to other people, the kind of future they might have and a better understanding of how to live life.”

I guess looking back (and forward)…my method for Allowing For Failure was knowing that my innovation mind-set never really expected everything to go great. Rather I just watched to see if everyone was trying their best…and they were!

We have discussed it before…but working with people is the toughest job around.  Trying to get people to work together effectively.  Trying to understand why some choose to perform a task one way…while everyone else wants to do it another way.  Or why some always show up late for work or don’t finish a certain assignment on time…any time!

But did you ever take a little historical look and try to attempt Realizing People’s “Building Blocks”?  What do I mean?

Think about what in their lifetimes may have led them to do what they do and why they are the way they are?!

• Did they finish high school…or did their parents?
• Do they have a “good” job…or ever had one that matched their talents and paid them well enough?
• Do they live in a good neighborhood…in a rural area…in a city?
• Are they religious?
• Were they a single child or did they come from/belong to a big family?
• Do they come from a broken family?
• Have they lived in a cultural-diverse area?
• Are they someone who grew-up following “the rules” completely…or is a risk-taker?
• Do they think they are too young or too old to “make-a-difference”?
• Does “what other people think” drive their decision-making…or are they a free-thinker?

This week’s TRIPLE III TIME message:  Realizing People’s “Building Blocks” is all about making it a professional priority to better understand people before making quick judgments or generalizations.  I believe as people work with others too often personal assumptions are made about someone which may be totally inaccurate.  Will taking a little extra discussion time when making decisions about people in your workplace make you a better person…better LEADER!

Absolutely!

One of the key factors when considering serious organizational development and/or business growth is to continually Think Regionally (+).  Too many times those in leadership positions believe that there is some form of geographic or technological boundary that encompasses the area that they want/need to serve.  This belief then gets passed on to all involved in planning strategies for the future.  As a result whether it can be scientifically proven or not…limits of conformation are directly or indirectly incapacitating the size and scope of all forms of non-traditional development/growth potential.

So what is a progressive “fix”?

First, I would use specialized labeling to endorse a “wide-open” operational design to highlight any new concept.  For example in the past I have used:  IDEAS UNLIMITED CLUB, What Else Mapping, The IDEA Mill, and What Next? Newsletter as descriptors of initiatives that have no geographic nor innovation limits!

Next it is always valuable to invite individuals or organizations or businesses from outside your traditional zone of operation to consider futurisms with you.  Historically it is easier and faster to limit those participating in planning activities.  However, each time you make the choice/decision to limit creative input…YOU have thereby lessened your groups potential for creative output.

Finally, I can not think of a negative outcome when I/we considered and built a new product or service that included help from beyond our region, state and even nation.  Involving these unique, non-affiliated participants into your organizational development/business growth planning sessions widens your customer understanding, service demands, potential partnerships and brand new opportunities everytime…EVERYTIME!

Think Regionally (+) simply asks…always dream beyond what’s normally possible!  Oh yeah the plus sign (+) means don’t be afraid of exceeding expectations!

Recently I received a unique consultant-based information-piece requesting that I apply to become a “Civic Influencer”?!  First I have to admit that I had never heard these terms connected before…nor have I found myself in a professional situation that involved the discussion of this type of activity,  So as I briefly researched the group that was recruiting applicants to become Civic Influencers… I began to better understand their purpose, processes and goals.  And yes as you can guess I almost instantly thought about “Influencers” as the next high-quality TRIPLE III TIME topic!

This week consider The Role of Professional Development Influencers in your world-of-work and the occupational network you maintain.  Do they support being organized… participation in continuous learning… and advocate/promote causes that represent you and what YOU stand for?  As you think about answers to these issues, check out this TOP 10 Influencer personal priorities as helpful guidelines.

GREAT Professional Development Influencers should:

1. Speak when they know…not because they think they know the answer.
2. Allow for and encourage questions regarding their own positions on issues.
3. Encourage all forms of continuous learning/educational pursuits.
4. Dress “like-they-mean-it” because it matters.
5. Recognize with praise…better problem solutions and explain that a perfect solution never exists.
6. Not discredit or speak badly of other Influencers.
7. Try to offer authentic and special influences…not just regular “off-the-shelf” options.
8. Support the strengths someone has…not an effort to try and be “everything-to everyone”.
9. Suggest positive influences in progressive pieces…not too much too often.
10. Be consistent in their commitments to being professionally organized, a continuous learner and true to the principles they promote.

Are YOU a GREAT Professional Development Influencer?  Do you surround yourself with high-quality Professional Development Influencers?  Maybe taking stock of and assessing YOUR Influencer impacts is an important NOW/TODAY exercise!

In everyone’s workplace world…leaders, co-workers, colleagues and just job-related friends come and go throughout the years.  The circumstances for their job or career change can vary from family concerns…to physically moving to a new area…or a different job that maybe has a huge salary increase!  But no matter the change…The Challenge of Starting Over is often a confusing, time-demanding and difficult transition for many.

In my experiences, The Challenge of Starting Over with new leadership personnel has often delayed or negatively impacted the establishment of mutual priorities for organizational development, need to maintain a high level of momentum with regard to actions/events/projects currently in play and the creation of a new/altered method of quality/timely communication.  As you can see all three of these actions do not progressively improve over-night and not without the appropriate amount of professional nurturing.  Therefore, it is necessary to step-back and as a leader take a high-level assessment of the entire Starting Over situation and adopt a co-equal methodology for moving forward together!

Simple, straight-forward actions may include:

• Automatically sharing operational messages to help understanding of product/service plans.
• Take the initiative to invite the new leader to moving forward style meetings.\
• If not co-located…visit them at their office/place-of-major-business.
• Make phone calls and in-person visits your primary method of communication at first.
• Offer a list of YOUR principle network of leaders for them to be aware of.
• Be sure to promote INCLUSION as a priority to your current-co-workers to set an example of “openness” for information.

The Challenge of Starting Over will only be harder and become more difficult if you ignore it.

Today as I work with multiple customers in a variety of professional sectors, the decision-making patterns between what is wanted by customers…versus what is more needed…versus the recommendations I offer…seems to be more irregular and confused than in times past.

What do I mean?

With all of the ever-expanding training/learning topics available…combined with the diverse options for training/learning program delivery, deciding what is wanted or needed for maximum personal/organizational/business effectiveness and efficiency has become ultra-challenging.  And then when one asks a “once-removed” consultant for their input…the uncertainty only grows.

So what’s a workable answer?

This week’s TRIPLE III TIME:  Wants-Versus-Needs-Versus-Recommendations message goal is to encourage everyone to go back to the beginning…to better find the best customer service answer.  Too many times individuals or groups seeking professional advice are not FIRST asked the toughest help question:  What problem are you really trying to solve?  If you can get everyone involved to initially focus more directly on solving the core customer service problem…the more likely you are to best identify the need(s) to be addressed!

Customers seeking your product or service always have many wants and needs.  The easy customer satisfaction route is to just provide them with their “want” and move on!  The tougher but more progressive route is to help address their specific problem areas and thereby concentrate on their real developmental needs.

Focusing exclusively on customer problem/need areas may regularly cause “professional discomfort” in performing your “day-job”!  But if you are committed to really helping people…that is your biggest responsibility.

If you ever think that a term like Leadership has been completely defined or is not in need of continuous improvement… you would be wrong! A great explanation of this issue is included in a summary of a TED Talk offered by Shelley Prevost a few years ago entitled: “Lead Like A Girl”.

“As leaders, we can find ourselves feeling like we have to cut off the other parts of ourselves in order to focus solely on the part that makes us a leader. So we don’t talk about our children or our partners, we forget how we act around them, and we assume that this is a different part of our personality. However, Prevost believes that it’s these seeming paradoxes that make us great leaders-we don’t just have to be a leader; we can be a nurturing leader. Or a funny leader. Or a thoughtful leader. We can create our own definitions.”

It has taken me quite some time to get past an early-career leadership practice when I standardly felt the need to “put on my Director’s face” in order to correctly deal with a challenging issue. For much of my career I believed that I had to totally change my “regular” leadership personality/style to effectively address ever-changing situations. However if you follow Shelley Prevost’s great leader beliefs…being ultra-direct, nurturing, thoughtful, funny and many other traits are all human elements that contribute to make us “Leadership-Whole”.  And doesn’t that just follow being authentic?

Bottomline:  Today, think about checking YOUR own definition of leadership.  Does it match up with who you are and what you stand for?  Or are you trying to fit into someone else’s definition of leadership and thereby losing your sense of authenticity, trust and believability?